Harvesting Shallots - When?

bart1(6/7 Northern VA)June 29, 2010

This is my first year growing shallots and I'm unsure when to harvest them. Do they fall over like onions when they're ready? Do they turn yellow like garlic when they're ready? How do you know when they are ready to be harvested?

I pull mine when half of the foliage is browning out and they are falling over (did mine last weekend - they were planted around the first of March). I also loosen the soil under them first with a potato fork - makes harvest easy and keeps them intact for drying.
hortster

This is my first year growing shallots also. Is it possible to leave shallots in the ground like floral bulbs to grow again next season? I did not plant very many bulbs last year and I would prefer to replant all the bulbs that grew this year for next year. If I don't dig them up, will they rot in the ground or will they regrow?

Because of the high multiplication factor, if you leave the bulbs in the ground they will be too close together and you will get thick bunches of stunted bulbs next year. Adequate spacing is needed for good growth.

This is my first year growing shallot, it's been in the ground for 6 months now, should i dig it out now? the leaves still very green though that is why i m not sure whether to pull it out or leave it longer? Thanks

Teslynz, I don't know what kind of climate you're in. Assuming you're in a North temperate zone and it's cold winter where you are, I'd leave them in the ground until late spring/early summer, when they should bulb up and dry down. Right now they wouldn't have any bulbs to speak of and would be like thin green onions.

Planted my shallots back in October & they are healthy, thriving & HUGE. But the tops are barely brown - nothing like my garlic. They've opened up & spread out, & the 2 I've harvested have bulbs/cloves(?) the size of small onions, so I'm happy. But not sure if I should harvest the rest of them? In our CO climate, the saying about garlic is "Plant on Columbus Day & harvest on 4th of JUL". Yet we leave our onions in the ground until September or until the tops fall over. Is there an adage about planting/harvesting shallots? And should I stop watering them a week or 2 before harvest like I do for my garlic?

geteb007- Treat shallots like you would onions when it comes to harvesting them. I like to harvest my shallots when the tops are fallen over and yellowed. Also, I find that my garlic and shallots are ready to harvest at around the same time (both have been harvested already).